The presentation directly relates to my fieldwork conducted in Armenia over the spam of 10 years (2013-2023) focused on the repatriation of diaspora Armenians to Armenia. The role of mobility in repatriation processes is twofold. It is extremely significant that the majority of the contemporary Armenian diaspora is a post-genocidal diaspora comprising from the descendants of the survivors of the Armenian genocide (1918), and the territory of their actual “ancestral homeland” – Armenian Highlands situated in contemporary Turkey, does not overlap with the Republic of Armenian in its current borders established within the former ASSR. Therefore, tourist visits to Armenia allow diaspora Armenians to explore the “ethnic” homeland, but not the land of ancestors per se. They help establish the link between the Republic of Armenia and the modern Armenian diaspora and often support the development of long-distance nationalism among young diaspora members. To repatriates, such visits have often helped to conceptualize repatriation as a valid strategy possible to undertake in the future, hence, the tourist mobilities may lead, and are directly linked, to more permanent migration. The second aspect of repatriates’ mobility is related to their integration processes in Armenia. As foreign citizens, they often hold passports of developed countries and as a consequence – enjoy almost unrestricted mobility – they can travel abroad in order to enrich their own cultural and social capital and as a result, become extremely competitive in the Armenian labor market. At the same time, local Armenian citizens willing to travel abroad face challenging visa regimes, which often significantly limit their potential for acquiring professional qualifications. In this case, mobility (or immobility), becomes a factor in maintaining the boundary between these two categories of Armenians and contributes to widening the socio-economic gap between local Armenians and repatriates.
